Electric plug connecter



Jan. 21, 1936. ANDRE 2,028,375

ELECTRIC PLUG CONNECTER Filed Feb. 26, 1930 Patented Jan. 21, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Belden Manufacturing Company, Chicago, 111.,

a. corporation of Illinois Application February 26,

4 Claims.

This invention relates to electric connecter plugs and, while adaptable to many forms of plug construction, is particularly designed for use in connection with plugs embodying a resilient main body which yieldingly or resiliently maintains the contact prongs in their normal spaced relation.

The objects of the invention are: to'provide a plug in which the contact prongs are securely anchored and held against accidental removal in the course of ordinary use; to provide an imprbved structure in which an electric conductor may be satisfactorily connected to the respective prongs with great facility; to provide an improved structure which is convenient to use, economical and low in cost of manufacture; and, in general, it is the object of my invention to provide an improved lectric plug connecter of the type referred to.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be understood by reference to the following specification and accompanying drawing in which I have illustrated an electric plug conneeter embodying a selected form-of my invention.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front end view, a cover plate being removed to more clearly illustrate the onstruction.

Figs. 2 and 3 are sections on thelines 2-4 and 33, respectively, of Figure 1.

Fig. 4 is aperspective of one of the contact prongs forming a part of my improved plug structure.

Referring now to the drawing, my improved plug includes a main body 5, preferably of resilient material such as soft rubber. The main body includes a head or front end part 6 and a rearwardlyextending handle part I formed integrally, for instance, by molding. The body 5 is provided with an axially disposed aperture 8 for receiving a conductor 9. which, in the present instance, is a duplex rubber-covered, or otherwise insulated, conductor. As shown in Fig. 1, the head part 6 of the plug body is preferably round in cross section, and the handle part I may conveniently be made of the same cross-sectional shape, although reduced in diameter, as indicated in the sectional views, Figs. 2 and 3.

Contact prongs l0 and II are associated with the plug body 5, the inner end portions of said prongs being embedded in the head part of the body, preferably by being molded in place during the formation of the body. The contact prongs ill and II are of like construction, and hence it will be sufficient to describe only one of them.

As shown in Fig. 4, the contact prongs com- 1930, Serial No. 431,595

prise a. substantially straight front or outer end portion l2 and a rear or inner end portion II constituting a base portion which is preferably offset or bent slightly with respect to the plane of the outer end portion l2. The base portion II is also provided with an edgewise extension I4 and the latter is provided with a laterally extending ear l5 having a wire-retaining lug l6 formed at its free end. The base portion l2 and extension l4 constitute anchoring means and are preferably provided with openings such as shown at l3 and 14', respectively, through which the rubber or other body material flows during formation of the plug body, and whereby the contact prong is securely and permanently anchored in the body. By offsetting the inner end portion l3 and ear I4 with respect to the plane of-the outer portion I2, I avoid the formation of a comparatively thin wall-like portion of the plug body between the inner end of the contact prong and (See Fig. 2.)

the conductor-receiving opening 8. The holding power of the plug body upon the inner end of the contact prong is accordingly increased, and the possibility of pulling out the prong by breaking the plug body is considerably reduced.

Preferably, the ear l5 which constitutes a terminal plate is embeddeddn the front end of the plug body, as indicated in Fig. 3, so that the front or outer face I! of the ear is exposed for facilitating connection of an electric conductor to the prong. Any suitable means may be used for connecting the conductor to the terminal plate IE, but I prefer to provide a binding post or screw I5 which engages a threaded opening in the terminal plate and is adapted to clamp a. conductor between the head of the screw and the exposed face of the terminal plate.

prongs l0 and II as shown in 'Fig. 1, and connected respectively to the said prongs.

The head or front end of the body includes a. forwardly extending annular flange 20 which may conveniently be provided with internal shoulders or ledges 2| and 22, respectively, on

nular flange 20 to enclose the terminal plates I1 and the conductor connections thereto. The

cover plate 25 is apertured, as indicated, to fit over the prongs l0 and II. For holding the cover plate in place the fiange 2ft is provided of the cover plate.

with an inwardly extending lip part 26 which overlies a marginal portion of the cover plate as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and constitutes with the ledges 2i and 22, an annular seat for the peripheral edge of the cover plate. As-

sembling of the cover plate with respect to the body is permitted by reason of the distortability of the plug body incident to its construction of resilient material, such as soft rubber. -In this connection, it will be noted that two separate ledges 2i and 22 are employed, for the reason that if a single continuous ledge were used, it might stifien the annular flange 2i! and thus interfere with the convenient flexing or bending of the flange in the application and removal Moreover the ledges 2i and 22 are disposed in an annular series and are so arranged that there is an unobstructed space between the adjacent ends of successive ledgesl and the prongs 'are so disposed that the contact plates i5 and binding posts is lie opposite these spaces or intervals so as to be conveniently accessible from the front of the body 6 when the cover plate 25 is not in place.

I am aware that changes may be made in the above-described structure without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which should be determined by reference to the following claims, the same being construed as broadly as possible consistent with the state of the art.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an electric connecter of the class described, the combination of a resilient material body having a conductor-receiving opening extending therethrough, an elongated contact .prong having an inner end portion extending longitudinally into the body portion alongside said opening, said inner end portion having an edgewise extension bent outwardly relative to the plane of said end portion and embedded away from said opening, an ear extending laterally from the upper edge of said extension and embedded in the front end of the body so as to have its top surface substantially flush with the front end surface of the body, said ear being adapted to have an electric conductor connected thereto, and a lipped flange of resilient material formed integral with and extending forwardly from the front end of said body to form, with said front end, a receptacle for the connection between the conductor and prong.

2. In an electric connecter of the class described, the combination of a resilient material body having a conductor-receiving opening extending therethrough, an elongated contact prong having an inner end portion extending longitudinally into the body portion alongside said opening, said longitudinally extending innerend portion being bent outwardly from the normal plane of the prong so as to diverge from said opening, thereby to provide adequate body support for the prong intermediate said opening and said longitudinally extending inner end portion, means facilitating the connection of an electric conductor to said prong adjacent the front end of the body, and a lipped flange extending forwardly from the front end of said body to form, with said front end, a receptacle I its extension being \also bent outwardly relative to the plane of the outer projecting prong portion so as to diverge from said opening, thereby to provide adequate body support for the prong, an ear extending laterally outwardly from the upper edge of said extension, said car being adapted to have an electric conductor connected thereto, and a lipped flange extending forwardly from the periphery of said body to form, with said front end, a receptacle for theconnection between the conductor and prong.

4. In an electric connecter of the. class described, the combination of an insulating material body member having a conductor receiving opening extending therethrough, a pair of sheet metal contact prongs having inner end portions embedded in said body on opposite sides of said opening, extensions respectively projecting laterally from an edge of the embedded portion of each of said contact prongs, said extensions being bent to obtuse angular relation to the planes of the .respective contact prongs from which said extensions project, and lips extending respectively from the outermost edges of the respective extensions and disposed on the front end of the body so. as to constitute ter- I minals adapted to have conductors connected thereto.

' GUSTAF E. ANDRE. 

